You never know how bad off you are until someone points it out. The new plan by President Obama to push for a federal minimum wage of $9 an hour has opened up the floodgates of opinion.

This is a hot-button topic among lots of people. Turns out it’s a lot more complicated than it seems.

For instance, many economists are bitterly divided about whether it helps more workers better their lives, or actually hurts by decreasing employment.

The debate certainly brings back fond memories of jobs we’ve had.

I remember my first job, mowing a 10-acre fruit grove in South Florida. The owners used a monstrous commercial walk-behind mower and I should have worn earplugs but no one worried about hearing loss back then. I said “NO ONE WORRIED .....”

We should have. But when you’re in your teens you don’t think about parts wearing out decades later.

I was paid $1.45 an hour. I said $1.45 AN HOUR!

Yes, those were the days. I was in high school and reported for work every Saturday morning to mow and wander among the mango trees and ponder the mysteries of the world.

I was delighted to be outside while my friends were inside doing things like washing dishes in restaurants. Plus the big bonus was the couple that owned the place fed me lunch.

The small paycheck every week seemed sufficient. I also was not responsible for supporting anyone or even myself. I worked for them for about a year and at one point received a 15-cent an hour raise for a job well done.

It did not really matter what the minimum wage was then because most farm workers are exempt from the federal minimum wage law anyway. So too are home-based companionship care jobs. Who knew about them?

This is a sore point for many worker advocates.

As an “agricultural worker” any argument that I could have supplemented my income with fallen mangoes does not go far. I am not sure about the logic behind the “companionship care” exemption. Maybe because most are thought to be casual workers supplementing other family incomes?

The federal minimum for other occupations is just that and states and even cities can set their own minimum wages. San Francisco, for instance, has the nation’s highest minimum wage at the moment at $10.55 an hour.

This compares to the present federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour. The federal limit does not pertain to those who also receive tips, such as food servers, car wash attendants, etc.

By federal law, they need only be paid $2.13 an hour. It is assumed they make out quite well in tips.

In New Hampshire, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and tipped wage minimum is $3.27. For Maine, they are $7.50 and $3.75.

A while back I had a part-time job in the service industry, a hotel. I took it to supplement my income so I could get ahead. I was paid $8.50 an hour plus tips and at first was glad to get it. It was a beautiful place and it’s quite dandy to be partly responsible for ensuring wealthy tourists have a good time.

Over time the benefits were outweighed by the small paycheck and I quit when something else opened up.

This is the fallacy of the minimum wage, in my humble opinion. Mobility. It is one of the wonders of the U.S. system.

If you don’t make enough for your circumstances or tastes, you can search for another employer. You are not without choices.

I was reminded of just this recently while reading about a very expensive plan to help Haiti by creating a business park in the countryside of that poor impoverished Caribbean island nation. It has begun to attract international companies who are setting up factories to churn out clothing and other things for the U.S. market while providing jobs for thousands of Haitians.

Critics say the $5-$7 a day they are paid is barely enough to live on. They say it has been tried before in that sad country and hardly helped anyone escape the cycle of poverty.

When you live on an island where the government is barely in control you truly are at the mercy of the next thug company to come along. This is why so many Haitians take to the sea in suspect craft to try to get here for a better life.

Here, the economic downturn has set us back. But indications are things are picking up, especially in NH, and worker mobility once again is on the rise.

This means firms that are losing their workers to better paying jobs may have to raise wages to continue operating, not because they are forced to by a federal mandate.

At times we all feel trapped by our circumstances. But we are not an island and we are protected by a system that ensures employers and employees can make their own choices. Or at least most of their own choices.